All my zinnias returned from last year. If you let the flower heads dry out they will reseed. When I deadhead zinnias, I cut the flower head off and drop it in the garden. I throw away the stem and leaves. It is a good practice to deadhead zinnias aggressively. What I mean by that is you should cut the stem at the lowest point, just above a leaf node with new growth on it, and sometimes even lower. If you don't do that they get really leggy and cannot support themselves. As soon as a flower starts looking tired, cut it to encourage more flowers. Also, start spraying them with fungicide even before you see powdery mildew on the leaves. Once you see mildew they will never look good. As with any chemical, treatment should be undertaken very early in the morning or in the evening after the bees have returned to the hive. Chemicals can rub off on the bees and then be carried into the hive thereby endangering the enitire hive. 
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